Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia and Australians deserve better than this. We have seen grossly incompetent Labor governments for the last 3½ years, but this takes the cake. It was in June of this year that, because by their own statement they had lost their way, this Labor government got rid of a first-term Prime Minister. They, of course, created a record in the number of people coming to our shores by boat. They now have a second record.

But why do we deserve better? In the eight weeks of the Gillard government after the election in August of this year, we have seen absolute incompetence at every point. In foreign relations, we have seen failure in the last few days. On the world stage, they thought our Prime Minister was from Austria. What an embarrassment and what an insult! In the economy, we see the inability of this government to deal with the banks, whose respect they have totally lost. The minerals resource rent tax is in disarray. The stimulus spending is in chaos. If I turn to the environment, all we see is confusion with carbon taxes, committees of the people, changing climate change et cetera. In communication, only yesterday we heard the OECD come out and criticise the NBN; in water, we see a backflip over the Murray-Darling basin; and in border protection we see an absolute abrogation of responsibility by this government.

It is not only Australians who deserve better; it is all of those thousands of refugees who have applied and been accepted legally, who are in refugee camps around the world and who are being overlooked in favour of these people who are jumping the queue. We are a generous country, and those people have every right to feel as cheated as the Australian community does. Just have a look at the incompetence of this government when it comes to border protection. In the budget in May of this year, the estimate was $327 million for refugee management, estimated at 2,000 people for the year. It is already 2,320 in the first four months. If you multiply that out, we are looking at a blow-out of over $800 million for this absolute abrogation of responsibility.

I turn to consultation with the community. In my own home town of Northam, 1,500 single young men are to be housed on the edge of that town in an army barracks that all of us who have spent time there know very well is very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. It was said to me the other day, ‘Since there are 1,500 Australian soldiers in Afghanistan and 1,500 young men from Afghanistan coming to the Northam Army barracks, why don’t we train the 1,500 Afghans at the Northam Army barracks to the level where they could go back to Afghanistan and do what our soldiers are doing so ours can come home?’

Seven hundred people from that community turned up to a function on 4 November. This is after the minister did not even have the courtesy to attend a meeting or, in fact, have any of his colleagues turn up. Someone derisively said, ‘700 isn’t many.’ It is 10 per cent of the community of Northam. If 35,000 of the 350,000 here in Canberra turned up to a protest, you can bet your life that plenty of government ministers would be there. The figure of 1,500 young men represents a 20 per cent addition to that community. If 70,000 people were dropped into Canberra on the outskirts, you can bet your life that there would be a high level of concern.

I turn also to service provision. Included in the budget, incidentally, $164 million can be found to turn the old Northam Army barracks into something acceptable for these people. On service provision, I asked in this chamber: given the fact that we lost a teenager and a baby at the Northam Hospital only in the last few weeks for lack of a doctor, what were they going to do for medical, nursing and psychological services? They said, ‘No problem; we are going to provide those doctors.’ We have an acute shortage—and I do not think the situation is different in other states and territories—of doctors, nurses and psychs throughout rural Australia, particularly rural Western Australia. I can speak with great experience. I have a niece who is the only psychologist in the town of Karratha, servicing everything from 500 kilometres south to 800 kilometres north, with all the associated problems that she has in that community. Yet she learned the other day through the newspapers that there will be no problem providing psychologists, doctors and nurses, and I have heard the same for Derby. ‘Where are they coming from?’ a nursing sister asked in Northam the other day. It is an insult from this minister and this government that they could not even address the community of Northam.

I turn to the people smugglers. We have the decision of the High Court only the other day. What is that going to add to our budget burden? What is that going to add to the legal system? It is in total and utter disarray. What is the minister going to do? He has not got a clue. There is, of course, a solution—a solution originally paid for by the Australian people—in the matter of Nauru. The centre there could be reopened and staffed with UNHCR people, and there would be a solution. But will this government do that? No, it will not. We have just heard dialogue and discussion with East Timor, Malaysia and Indonesia. Madam Acting Deputy President, let me tell you that, when Prime Minister Gillard visited Malaysia recently to go to Putrajaya and visit the Malaysian government, they could not even send their Prime Minister to speak to our Prime Minister. In terms of relations, what an insult it is that our Prime Minister was met by the Deputy Prime Minister. The Malaysians have no more intention of being involved in a regional solution than East Timor, and if the government were serious then it would pick up the phone and deal with Nauru right now.

We turn again to the question of border protection. Only in Senate estimates in the last two or three weeks did we address questions to the secretary of the department. I asked him how many people leave their country to go to Malaysia or Indonesia with papers, passports and visas. He told me that the answer is that everybody does. I said to him then: how many of these people have their papers and visas when they are processed after being picked up on the boats? He said that practically none did. I said, ‘Then they have a problem, Mr Metcalfe.’ He said, ‘No, they haven’t got a problem; we’ve got a problem.’ I asked why we had a problem. He said, ‘Because we have to establish who they are.’ You would think that the process of ‘no papers, no admission’ would surely be the starting point in this whole exercise. Surely it is incumbent on these people, if they leave their home country with passports and visas, to present themselves and explain why they do not have them. It is the tail wagging the dog.

This Labor government knows the solution. We have the solution from the past. The figures that have been quoted this afternoon need placing into balance: in 2002-03, no boats; the next year, one boat; the next year, zero boats; and the next year, one boat. Remember that, of course, Iraq and Afghanistan were well and truly alive at that time. The solution lies in the government’s hands; Australia deserves far better than this.